Hi Everyone,
Today my post is all about creative writing. Our daughter Zara has just turned 5 and so she will be doing a lot more creative writing when she starts in year 1 in September.
Creative writing is a fun way to increase vocabulary, improve handwriting skills and develop emotional skills. Parents can help to nurture their child’s imagination by exploring creative writing at home. To help you get started here are some simple creative writing tips from an independent school in Edgware…
Read often
Because reading goes hand in hand with writing, it is important to encourage your child to read as often as possible. This will not only help to improve your child’s vocabulary and grammar skills, but is will also introduce them to a world of knowledge and a variety of new literary genres.
Write your own ending
One of your first creative writing activities could be writing a new ending to a favourite story. Explore how some simple changes to the storyline, can lead to a completely different ending. This is a fun activity to do together with your child. Share your different endings with each other and see which one is your favourite.
Choose the right topic
When practicing creative writing, it is important to choose a topic that really interests your child. This will help them to enjoy the activity and keep them motivated to learn as they write. It is also much easier to write about a topic you have personal experience with.
Make a mind map
Once your child has chosen a topic, help them to ‘mind map’ words that relate to it. A good way to do this is by asking your child to think about how their topic might affect their senses. For example, a story about the jungle might include seeing trees and animals, and feeling hot and humid. Creating a mind map can also help your child to imagine new characters for their story.
Start with a bang!
Finally, one of the hardest parts about writing a new story is the first sentence. Help your child to get their story started by looking at other stories for inspiration. The first line should always try to grab the reader’s attention, so try to include lots of descriptive words.
I hope you’ve found these creative writing tips as helpful as I have.
Laura x